Big earthquake hits northwest China - High death toll feared

A strong earthquake killed at least 67 people and buried "many" others on Wednesday in northwestern China's remote Qinghai province, the government said.

Many houses have collapsed, roads have been damaged or blocked by landslides and telecommunications has been disrupted, local officials said after the quake which was measured by the US Geological Survey at a magnitude of 6.9.

"Soldiers have been dispatched to save the people buried in the collapsed houses," the official Xinhua news agency quoted a local official, Huang Limin, as saying.

The China Earthquake Administration put the magnitude of the quake in the remote high-altitude region at 7.1, saying at least 67 people were confirmed dead.

It said there was extensive damage to local structures, collapsing many, and caused cracks in a local dam.

The USGS said the quake hit at 7:49 am (2349 GMT Tuesday) and was centred 380 kilometres (240 miles) south-southeast of the city of Golmud, at a depth of 46 kilometres,

Three aftershocks rattled the area shortly after the quake, with magnitudes of up to 5.8, the USGS reported.

Calls by AFP to local government headquarters and businesses in Yushu county, the quake's epicentre, went unanswered as the earthquake administration said the quake caused disruptions to telecommunications in the area.

The county has a population of about 80,000 people.

Xinhua quoted officials saying rescue personnel and equipment were being rushed to the area but warned they could be hampered as roads had been damaged or blocked by landslides.

The remote high-altitude region is prone to earthquakes. The zone, which is home to ethnic Mongolians and Tibetan farmers and herdsmen, is dotted with coal, tin, lead and copper mines.

A 6.2-magnitude quake rattled Golmud in August last year, triggering landslides and the collapse of about 30 homes, but there were no reports of casualties.

A massive 8.0-magnitude quake in May 2008 in neighbouring Sichuan province devastated a huge area of southwestern China, leaving at least 87,000 people dead or missing.

AFP